3 acre market garden

Return to New Entrant Example Start-Up Costs.

In this model, 2 acres of the site are used for crop production. 1000m2 are used for polytunnel crops and 1.75 acres are used for outdoor production of high value salad crops. These require a high quantity of hand labour and the production system is largely manual, with minimal cultivation. Seedlings are produced on the farm to increase control over the production system and fertility is primarily provided by bought-in compost, that is also used as a mulch and soil conditioner.

Produce is sold at a premium wholesale price directly to local restaurants, cafes and shops, and so the model works best in a peri-urban areas or those with a with a high concentration of food retailers responding to a demand from tourism.

The polytunnels produce around £25,000 per year and the 1.75 acres of outdoor crops yield around £55,000 so the total turnover of the farm is around £80,000. This system requires a high labour input which accounts for around 80% of the turnover, creating a large amount of employment. 10-20% of income goes on fixed costs. This leaves, at most, 10% as surplus, although this would take a number of years to achieve and can rapidly disappear or run to a loss in a year of bad weather.